The New York Times reports that shareholders of Massey Energy have reached an agreement to sell Massey to Alpha Energy.

Massey Execs will keep their jobs

An official investigation into the accident by a panel appointed by the former governor of West Virginia blamed Massey’s management for the Upper Big Branch accident, saying it had “operated its mines in a profoundly reckless manner.”J. Davitt McAteer, the former federal mine safety chief who led the West Virginia inquiry, said in an interview that retaining senior Massey executives “certainly doesn’t help make a dramatic and abrupt change in safety culture.”

“The question for the new owners,” he added, “is where is the strong message that this heralds a new day in mine safety and health?”

Massey executives have long argued that the explosion was caused by a natural large methane release into the mine chamber, not bad safety procedures.